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Sunday, February 2, 2014

The Sky So Heavy by Claire Zorn

Title: The Sky So HeavyAuthor: Claire Zorn

Release Date: 24th July 2013

My Rating: 5/5

Blurb:

For
Fin, it's just like any other day - racing for the school bus, bluffing
his way through class, and trying to remain cool in front of the most
sophisticated girl in his universe, Lucy. Only it's not like any other
day because, on the other side of the world, nuclear missiles are being
detonated. From
an exciting new voice in Australian YA literature, Claire Zorn, comes a
haunting novel, The Sky So Heavy - a mesmerising story inspired by the
continued debate over Australia's treatment of asylum-seekers and how a
line through a map can determine your fate.

In A Nutshell:

This
gripping story of utter desperation and survival is full of suspense as
our characters face a near apocalyptic future. Faced with situations no
one, let along children, should have to endure, they
question where to draw the line when fighting for survival and
how far you would go to protect the ones you love. Claire Zorn and her
debut novel, The Sky So Heavy, are exciting new additions to the Aussie YA
community.

My Review:

The Sky So Heavy is the debut novel by Australian author Claire Zorn.
Zorn has created a chilling story of survival set in Australia’s Blue
Mountains after another country ‘tests’ nuclear missiles and essentially
sends the world back into the dark ages.

Our main character is
seventeen year old Fin. Along with his younger brother Max, the boys
battle the freezing cold and dwindling supplies after their dad
disappears on the first night. As the months go by, they come to the
realisation that those not from the city (Sydney), or who do not possess
‘valuable’ skills (such as doctors) are being left to die. The
brothers, forced to fend for themselves to survive, team up with new
friend Noll and Fin’s school friend Lucy, and attempt to make their way
towards the city in search of Fin and Max’s mother. But staying alive
and getting into the barricaded city will be harder than any of them
expected.

As Fin tries to hold it all together and stay positive
for their little group, their new reality means hypothermia,
dehydration and starvation become very real possibilities. And if those
don't kill them, someone will probably try. The kindness of strangers
often surprises them when at the same time, people they have known their
whole lives try to kill them for supplies. With the population becoming
more desperate and violence escalating in correlation to how hungry
people are, Fin, Noll and Lucy question what is right and wrong. Who do
they trust? And where do they draw the line in order to survive and
protect the ones they love?

This gripping story of utter
desperation and survival is full of suspense as our characters face a
near apocalyptic future. Yet throughout their struggle, Fin, Max, Noll
and Lucy continue to hold on to hope that they will find somewhere they
can rebuild their lives.

Claire Zorn and her first novel, The Sky So Heavy, are exciting new additions to the Aussie YA community.